2 Chapter 2: NOAH

These past six weeks have been a blur.

After firing Brent and Sean along with their two buddies in HR and finance, we worked around the clock to refill positions and support our smaller sales staff while we helped our lawyers build their case and now it is in the hands of the court.

Joshua and Emilia have grown together in leaps and bounds during this time and they make me realize I've been missing out in finding someone to explore my own life with - every aspect of my life. Is it too much to ask to find a connection like they have? I once thought it was, but my best friend and his partner have rekindled a new hope in me.

To say the start of their relationship was rocky is an understatement but they fit together like no one I've met before. Well, maybe Adam and Lexa came close, but it is a rare connection.

Like Joshua, after high school, I focused a lot of my energy on my work with Connor Realty. We both saw the potential in working hard and Adam and his team made it easy to learn. Investing in yourself is the best investment, Adam used to say. He talked about the importance of always learning, always growing and taking care of ourselves and each other.

Now, I'm running out to meet up with some of our more recent employees to celebrate the end of their probationary period and their official roles in the company.

I have to admit, I don't see a lot of potential in this group. While I like to be in charge, I also like to be challenged. I enjoy debate and discussion, and I love to further educate, and this group of recruits are a little too compliant. Maybe it's just the younger age; those who challenge the status quo are often the ones with more life experience behind them.

Regardless, this past month made all of our jobs more challenging and everyone rose to the occasion to complete their tasks and keep our company going strong in light of all of our recent setbacks.

One of the guys on the team suggested a quaint coffee shop down the street and now I'm rushing to meet everyone there. With my increased responsibilities at Connor Realty, Joshua suggested I hire a driver to get around downtown and it was perfect timing that an old acquaintance of mine happened to be looking for work like this. Watching from the back seat, I'm happy not to be the one driving in this madness as Marcus pulls up to the curb and I get out and head for the front door.

Everyone is sitting around the largest table by the front window and I nod as I make my way to the woman standing with her back to me in front of the counter. It looks like she's just finishing everyone's order so I can pay her before she delivers everything.

As I stop behind her and before I catch her attention, one of the new girls calls my name and I turn to tell her I'll just be a minute, but I'm not fast enough. Before I turn all of the way back, I feel a hard bump and I watch as everything crashes into me then down to the floor and I feel my body heat up as the drinks slowly soak into my shirt and pants.

Everyone around us goes silent and the woman in front of me is frozen in place blinking rapidly at the destruction around us. Waves of auburn hair cover most of her face as she scans the floor and I hear a couple of people from the table laugh to themselves as I notice her tense up and I suddenly feel a pang of guilt for getting in her way.

"Well, I did say drinks were on me?" I shrug at my team, hoping to deflect some of the attention onto myself and it seems to work as I have all of their eyes back on me.

"Are you kidding me? That's all you have to say?" I hear her behind me. Her voice is angry. I understand she must feel embarrassed but she is still the one currently doing the serving in a service industry so I attempt to keep my voice steady.

"You ran into me, remember?" I speak calmly but something goes off inside of me.

"You're standing in an employee only space." She speaks as she begins pointing her finger around the room. "You order over there and you pay over there. What are you doing over here?" Her words continue to taunt whatever is stirring inside of me.

While I want to push back, I sense now isn't the time. There is more than spilled coffee going on for the woman in front of me and I push down my retort and drop my voice so only she can hear my words. "I apologize. I saw you over here and I was coming over to pay for the group and help you carry the drinks over to our table."

As I finish my sentence, her eyes shift to everyone around the table who, I now notice, have gone completely quiet. When she meets my stare again, she looks like she's realized her situation and her bottom lips quivers while she sniffles back her tears.

"I - okay," she tries to steady her voice. "Give me a moment to remake this order." She forces a smile. Embarrassment warms her cheeks and I notice her hands have started to tremble.

Catching her before she leaves, "It's not necessary." As I speak, her brows knit in confusion and I hear the table behind me begin to groan. Turning to the eight waiting, I pull some bills out of my wallet and hand them to Greg. "I promised you after-work drinks. Here, this should cover a couple of rounds at the pub down the street. I'll catch up with you another time." Everyone's eyes light up and they quickly gather their things and mutter their thanks, leaving the two of us alone.

"What do I owe you?" I take a step closer to her and she doesn't back away but she does drop her head and her gaze down.

"I don't want your money." She responds cooly and I decide, now that we are alone, it's time to assert myself a little more.

"I'm not asking if you want my money. I'm telling you, I will pay for the drinks you dropped when you bumped into me." I speak slowly, purposefully. I haven't used my dominant voice in awhile and I watch her chest heave a little deeper in reaction as she backs down.

"Look, we can't accept money for drinks we don't serve." Reluctantly, she sounds like she's quoting directly out of an employee handbook.

"Then who pays for these drinks?" My patience wears thin as she considers my question. I already know the answer. Most places like these make the employees pay for these mistakes out of pocket and this was a large order.

"I asked you a question - Hazel." I notice her name tag and use it to further hold her attention as I continue, "I expect a quick reply."

"I pay for them out of my tips. It's company policy. I'm not allowed to charge you. Look, it's fine. It was my mistake. I'm sorry." Her face falls with every word she says and now we've come to some sort of unspoken understanding and it pleases me.

"Fair enough. As your customer though, I have a right to leave a tip."

"What?" Incredulously, she takes a step back and I feel my words have offended her.

"It's pardon me or, my favorite, I beg your pardon. That's if you didn't hear me, but I think you did." I feel my smile turn into something a little darker.

"I told you. I don't want your money." I'm not sure what her reasons are for turning down this tip but I want to find out. I've never met anyone so intent on not taking money. Just as I'm about to ask her another question, a second woman steps out from the back and gasps at the caffeinated carnage laying at our feet.

Turning to her coworker, she raises her hand. "It's okay. It was an accident. I've got this." And her coworker distances herself from the mess as quickly as she can. "Look, my shift is over. I need to clean this up and get out of here." She attempts to shut our conversation down but I'm not ready to leave her just yet.

"Am I keeping you from your boyfriend?" My question catches her off guard but I'm going to need an answer before I decide to continue.

"Something like that." She mutters as she reaches for a broom from behind the counter.

"Fine, but I'm not leaving until you tell me the amount on the bill so I can leave a proper tip - for your time." She sighs deeply at my words and I shrug telling her that I'm not going to be leaving until I settle this with her.

Setting the broom down, she pulls the receipt out of her apron and reaches out to hand it to me as she echoes the same number I'm reading. "The total was $74.86."

"Here, this should cover it." I hear the door to the back room swivel again as I reach into my wallet and pull out a bill, handing it to Hazel and her eyes bulge.

"This is a hundred dollars."

"Look at you. You're a smart one." I taunt with a smirk.

"I can't accept this." She pushes it back into my hand just as quickly and I refuse to accept it as I slowly shake my head.

"Either I hand it to you, or I hand it to your coworker to cover the loss, but I am the customer and I am always right." I give her the choice as her coworker pretends to clean the counter nearby so she can eavesdrop on our conversation.

"We don't say the customer is always right, here." Crossing her arms, she challenges me.

"You shouldn't say that. The customer isn't always right. My declarations were independent of each other. I am the customer. I am always right. I am not always right because I am the customer. I am always right because I am always right." I end with a wink and I imagine my arrogance is grating on her.

Before she declines again, I end the back and forth. "Look, I'm not taking no for an answer. I wish to give you a tip, for your time."

She glances over her shoulder at her coworker who is silently telling her to just take the money and she resigns herself to the battle she just lost.

"This is very generous of you. Thank you."

"You are welcome. I found our conversation to be very enlightening, Miss?" I wait for her to fill in my blank and I finally get to see what she looks like when she smiles.

"Masters - Hazel Masters."

"It's nice to meet you Hazel, you can call me N." She snaps her head in surprise at my response.

"Ummm." Is all that comes out of her mouth and I feel myself become heady at her confusion.

"Anyway, I believe you have a boyfriend to get to?" I get back to the question I won't directly ask, further setting her off. In all truth, I'm still waiting to hear if she has someone in her life.

"Great. Thanks." She neither confirms nor denies my statement and I clench my palms into a fist before I notice my hands have become sweaty at the thought of how I'd love to deal with her for beating around the bush.

I'm almost ready to ask her the question outright when her nosy coworker finally answers it for me. "Hazel, when did you get a boyfriend?" Both of us glance at the girl behind the counter.

As my attention slowly moves back to Hazel, my grin turns wicked as I see the defeat in her eyes and I can't help but feel triumphant. I feel it in my bones. This is the exact moment I decide to pursue her further.

"Interesting." I savor the tension.

"What?"

"There you go again with the whats."

"What is interesting?" She corrects herself.

"That's better. We've just begun our arrangement and already you're lying to me." I'm in my full dominant mode now and I'd be lying if I wasn't utterly enjoying this.

I hear the door to the backroom open again and I don't care to check to see if we are alone.

"What arrangement? And I'm not lying if you assume something and I don't correct you." She tries to justify her vagueness and I feel the need to take control of the situation.

"Hmmm. Then let me make myself clear. Are you currently in any type of romantic or sexual relationship, Miss Masters?" Her mouth drops wide open at my question.

"I don't have a boyfriend. I need to get to the library to study before my next shift. I have a final tomorrow." She surrenders the information I need quickly and I wonder if this tension I'm feeling is the same for her.

"Forgive me for my assumption, but you look a little older than the college crowd." I state but, again, it's more of a question.

"I started late. I'm 26." She winces at herself. No doubt she realizes how easily she is giving me all of the information I need.

"I see. That's good to know. I'll give you some time to clean this up but I'd like to speak with you before you leave. I'll be outside. Don't leave me waiting." Without waiting for her answer, I turn and walk outside to call Marcus to come around to the front.

I'll know in the next few minutes if this is something that interests her as well.